Former World No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic passed a stern test to advance to the second round of the Open de Moselle, edging French qualifier Sebastien De Chaunac 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(1) on Tuesday at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Metz.

The 30 year old, currently No. 46 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, struck 21 aces and won 82 per cent of points behind his first serve to close out victory after two hours and 21 minutes and avoid a third successive first-round defeat.

"It was a difficult first match," said Ljubicic. "It's never easy to play a qualifier in the first match. They come in with a lot of confidence and and are used to the court when we are trying to adjust. So today I started not too well but it got better as the match went on. This was my first match since three weeks so I'm happy with the result. I really enjoy the conditions here. It's a court I know well as I played many times at the tournament but in Davis Cup also."

Eighth seed Ljubicic is looking for a return to form at the scene where he clinched one of his eight career ATP World Tour titles, with victory over Gael Monfils in the 2005 final; he was also a quarter-finalist a year earlier (l. to Mathieu).

Ljubicic next will meet World No. 55 Janko Tipsarevic, who disappointed French lucky loser Arnaud Clement by defeating the 2003 champion 6-4, 6-4 with 10 aces and two breaks of serve in the 80-minute match. The 25-year-old Tipsarevic, who helped Serbia gain promotion to the Davis Cup World Group at the weekend, reached the Metz quarter-finals last year (l. to Mathieu).

Ljubicic said: "My next match against Tipsarevic will be very difficult. I think we played once on grass but this doesn't mean much here. I will need to serve well."

Frenchman Richard Gasquet was also made to work hard in his first-round match against a qualifier before prevailing 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5) against German Michael Berrer in two hours and 32 minutes. In the evenly contested encounter, both players hit 12 aces, won 111 total points and converted on two of their break point chances.

The 23-year-old Gasquet improved to a 15-9 season record as he posted his first match win since a third round showing at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in May. Gasquet, who is playing in Metz for the first time in three years, reached his first ATP World Tour at the tournament in 2004 before losing to countryman Jerome Haehnel.

Belgian Christophe Rochus defied a bagel first set and 20 aces from veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro to defeat the fifth seed 0-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) and book his spot in the second round for the first time in three visits. The loss marks the third straight first-round defeat that the 36-year-old Santoro has suffered in Metz and the third first-round exit he has made in his past four tour-level tournaments.

The No. 88-ranked Rochus recorded his first tour-level victory since reaching the third round at Roland Garros (l. to Tsonga) in May – he had also defeated Santoro in the first round that week. He improved to a 14-23 mark on the season.

Russian Evgeny Korolev produced a dominant display to upset sixth-seeded German Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-3. World No. 73 Korolev, who is coming off the back of an ATP Challenger Tour title in Szczecin, Poland, converted all four break points he created and surrendered just seven points on serve throughout the 52-minute match.

World No. 73 Korolev, who is coming off the back of an ATP Challenger Tour title in Szczecin, Poland, converted all four break points he created and surrendered just seven points on serve throughout the 52-minute match.

The 21-year-old Muscovite has enjoyed success in Metz before, qualifying into the 2007 main draw before going on to reach the quarter-finals (l. to Canas). He reached his maiden ATP World Tour final earlier this season at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, where he finished runner-up to Mardy Fish.

Korolev goes on to face Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, who defeated Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-4 in 58 minutes. The No. 100-ranked Istomin is bidding to reach his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season.

Updated: September 24, 2009, 6:53 PM EDTPARIS (AP) - French tennis player Richard Gasquet was left partially satisfied after French prosecutors on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit he filed in an attempt to further clear himself from his positive test for cocaine.

Gasquet took legal action for "administration of substances harmful to health" to try and prove he was not at fault for testing positive in March at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida.

An anti-doping tribunal in July believed Gasquet when he said he inadvertently took cocaine by kissing a woman he identified as "Pamela" at a Miami nightclub, and immediately ended his ban after two and a half months.

Even though Gasquet sought another Paris-based investigation including a toxicological expert, it didn't establish he had committed any offense nor that he was the victim of an outside intoxication, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement.

"I'm very happy because the investigation has proved that I never took cocaine and that I always said the truth," Gasquet said in a statement.

Paris prosecutors said a woman questioned during the investigation was ordered to attend a drug treatment program.

"The drug treatment ordered by the prosecutor against Pamela proves that she is a regular cocaine user," Gasquet said.

* Roddick, 27, the top American on the ATP World Tour, is making his tournament debut…So far this week he has beaten a pair of Aussies, Peter Luczak 76(5) 62 in the first round on Monday and wild card Carsten Ball 76(0) 62 in the second round on Wednesday* This is his first ATP World Tour tournament since Oct. 13 when he retired with a left knee injury in the opening round of the ATP World Tour 1000 event in Shanghai* Last season he compiled a 48-15 match record and finished in Top 10 for the eighth consecutive year (Federer is the only other active player to do so)…He also won his 27th career title in Memphis (d. Stepanek) to extend his title streak to nine consecutive years (joining Federer)

* Gasquet, 23, is making his fourth tournament appearance (8-3 record)…He has done one round better every year, reaching the second round in Adelaide in 2002 (l. to Alberto Martin), the quarter-finals in Adelaide in 2007 (l. to Chris Guccione) and the semi-finals in 2009 (l. to Radek Stepanek)…Unseeded this year, he has beaten Jarkko Nieminen in the first round on Monday, 63 46 64, and qualifier Matthew Ebden in the second round on Wednesday, 63 64* In 2009 he had a 22-15 match record, finishing outside Top 50 (at No. 52) for first time in five years* He opened last year with back-to-back semi-final efforts in Brisbane and Sydney (l. to Nalbandian) and the third round at Australian Open...Also advanced to semi-finals in Dubai and Metz* His last ATP World Tour title came in Mumbai on Sept. 30, 2007 (d. O. Rochus) and his last final came in Stuttgart in July 2008 (l. to del Potro)...Finished a year-end best No. 8 in 2007

BG, I'm watching Gasquet-Youzhny and there about 4 hours in headed to a 4th set TB. Richard starting to show signs of the "AO flu" again. Last year he was hacking violently. I'll be interested to see how he holds up.

Gasquet at RG is notoriously flaky but on clay he should still have the edge tadalafil tablets. There's a thread on MTF about how long that match will last. Richard seems to have overcome his aversion to playing in France ... shown special appreciation it'd be churlish not to acknowledge it.